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      04-05-2011, 07:54 AM   #1
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BMW i3 confirmed be Rear Wheel Drive (and mid-engine!)

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BMW i3 confirmed be Rear Wheel Drive (and mid-engine!)
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Autoblog's Damon Lavrinc has confirmed what many had figured out from the i3 spy videos, that the 2013 i3 will be rear wheel drive and "mid-engine". The BMW i3 is BMWs first forray into a mass production electric vehicle, mainly geared towards large cities, as its original name implies (Mega City Vehicle). Thats not to say its the first EV from BMW, as they have already been learning alot from the MINIe and BMW 1-Series ActiveE, this car simply represents the next step-- smaller packaging and larger industries of scale.

The BMW i3 itself is the world's first volume production car made of lightweight carbon fiber and is to be built in Leipzig. BMW expects to have the cars produced in "Significant volumes" by 2013, targeting 30,000 annual sales at the get-go.

[Source: Autoblog]

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      04-05-2011, 08:17 AM   #2
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april fools?


but seriously, that would be sick. Give it good driving dynamics and this car will be a hit.
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      04-05-2011, 08:34 AM   #3
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Really hope this isn't an April fools, a bit late for it too in my opinion.

But I'm on board with that idea. Now that the fear of front wheel drive is out of the way (maybe). Lets hope this thing looks good too.
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      04-05-2011, 08:38 AM   #4
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Guys it is not April fools. It has been known to be RWD since BMW published the development pictures and story of the CF space frame months and months ago.
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      04-05-2011, 08:52 AM   #5
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cool
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      04-05-2011, 09:23 AM   #6
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I can't believe BMW is putting their brand name on this thing, should have called it a Mini something. It looks like a smart car and a Prius had an ugly baby! i8 looks awesome, i3 looks like BMW is supposed to be a performance car company, if they want to build electrics put a different name on it, could they not make this car better looking?
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      04-05-2011, 09:37 AM   #7
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Love it!
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      04-05-2011, 09:40 AM   #8
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A blogger reported it, so it must be true. . . .
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      04-05-2011, 10:09 AM   #9
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A mid-engined EV is not all that surprising. Don't many hybrids have their powertrains sitting directly on the axle they're driving so as not to lose any precious HP through drive shaft?
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      04-05-2011, 10:17 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aajami View Post
A mid-engined EV is not all that surprising. Don't many hybrids have their powertrains sitting directly on the axle they're driving so as not to lose any precious HP through drive shaft?
Most likely.

Besides, why would anyone get excited about this? It is not a Cayman, it is a bloody hybrid made for city driving. Just because it has the tiny electric engine in the middle, do you guys expect it to be fast? It is designed to be economical. I bet it has stupid low grip eco tires on it.
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      04-05-2011, 10:56 AM   #11
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it is true and it is old news...

look at those DRIFTS:


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      04-05-2011, 12:30 PM   #12
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^ after watching that, I'd say, DUH...

I hadn't seen it before tho, so this is good news.
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      04-05-2011, 02:21 PM   #13
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mid engined is cool (actually, REALLY COOL!), but kind of a waste since this car wont be taking corners fast.
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      04-05-2011, 03:13 PM   #14
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Strange, but it probably fits into the "brave new world" of low CO2 emissions.
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      04-05-2011, 03:16 PM   #15
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So what about all the fuzz on the i being a FWD BMW!?
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      04-05-2011, 03:16 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mako View Post
I can't believe BMW is putting their brand name on this thing, should have called it a Mini something. It looks like a smart car and a Prius had an ugly baby! i8 looks awesome, i3 looks like BMW is supposed to be a performance car company, if they want to build electrics put a different name on it, could they not make this car better looking?
You don't even know what it will look like yet.. I can understand if you don't like the "shape", but that's all you can see. They clay model they showed off didn't look all that bad. Looks nothing like this mule.
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      04-05-2011, 07:12 PM   #17
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i really can't see how the body and shape of this car will turn out looking good.....
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      04-05-2011, 08:43 PM   #18
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I don't see what all the fuss is about. The i3 looks no different than most of the small hatchback cars you see all over Europe. At least it should be fun to drive with RWD and the instantaneous torque of an electric motor.

If it helps BMW meet the future CAFE standard while keeping some cool cars like the M3 around, I'm all for it. Finally, remember that BMW sold cars like the Isetta and the 700 back in the '50's and early '60's to keep the doors open, so it's been done before.
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      04-06-2011, 08:04 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by XC View Post
So what about all the fuzz on the i being a FWD BMW!?
There was never any.

The Megacity, which was the original working name of the i3, was always going to be RWD. I can't remember a single piece of BMW marketing material that did not make a specific effort to emphasize that fact.

The only FWD cars BMW is known to be working on are the 1 series MPVs and such.
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